MovieChat Forums > The Haunting of Hill House (2018) Discussion > Flanagan can’t do horror

Flanagan can’t do horror

posted a year ago by Melton (4435)
3 replies | jump to latest

He’s a writer-director of some talent who is pretty good at character and drama, but he rarely creates tension or scares.

Most of his horror is the tedious someone wakes up, looks over there and suddenly a dark figure is standing there accompanied by the 100th thud sound effect.

Meanwhile directors like David Lynch can truly get under your skin with the uncanny.

Check out this 1 minute amateur horror, Flanagan could learn a lot from watching this: https://youtu.be/gNQIdEv-Emo

[–] DoctorThirteen (13920) 9 months ago

I think there are times where he lands it, but I agree his biggest strength seems to be dramatic storytelling.

[–] Melton (4435) 9 months ago

He’s great at stringing you along but flubs his endings. Hill House and Midnight Mass both ultimately dropped the ball in the last act - the mystery always leads to something bland and uninspired. I’m not sure I can be bothered to watch another Flanagan series, it’s not worth it.

A storyteller should know his ending first and foremost and write backwards. Flanagan is just skilled at pulling things out of his ass and showing you for 10 hours.

[–] DoctorThirteen (13920) 9 months ago

I haven't seen Midnight Mass. I remember enjoying Ouija: Origin of Evil (with a lot of the THOHH/THOBM cast). I'll give that another watch over the next couple of days.